https://youtu.be/QXdz9W7nAQs
Franco Zaccagnino is an artist and master craftsman who lives and works in Sant'Ilario d'Atella, a small rural village immersed in the silence of the Vulture plain, in northern Basilicata. In this provincial microcosm, Zaccagnino has given life to an expressive language unique in the world.
The Reed as Medium and Philosophical Symbol
The central element of his work is the giant reed (Arundo donax). It is not intended merely as a physical medium, but rises to a powerful symbol of the human condition. Recalling the thought of the French philosopher Blaise Pascal, Zaccagnino conceives man as a "thinking reed": the most fragile and defenseless creature in nature, easily bent by the winds of fate, yet endowed with the infinite nobility of thought and consciousness.
This intellectual and existential investigation permeates the artist's entire body of work, exploring human duality—suspended between earthly misery and spiritual tension—overcoming it through mystical experience and craftsmanship.
Arundian Art: Between Craftsmanship and Abstraction
Zaccagnino's art, critically defined as Arundian Art (from the Latin term arundo, reed), moves along a dual track. On one side, there is a strong figurative stamp, initially linked to the historic artisanal skills of woodworking and reed crafting typical of the Avigliano area: an example of this is the extraordinary cycle of Cathedrals, faithfully reproduced through the complex mosaic technique using reed sections.
On the other hand, it is in his abstract and informal works that Zaccagnino expresses his utmost artistic freedom. Using the vegetable fiber of the reed as a three-dimensional base, the artist overlays textural elements, resins, and pours of acrylic color or industrial enamels. His works transform into bas-reliefs vibrating with light and shadow. The titles of his creations suggest deep theological reflections, social critiques, or glimpses of Lucanian peasant life.
This video documentary (filmed in October 2017) aims to be an intimate journey into his workshop, capturing the sound of hands working the plant fiber and understanding the value of an art that springs from the Lucanian land to become universal thought.
To discover the artist's official website: www.francozaccagnino.net
Roberto Lacava
